Re: The Goal of Gnome

[Richard Stallman]

The aim of Gnome is to be a graphic desktop for the GNU operating
system.  That's the purpose for which we launched Gnome.

There is no hard and fast limit for what kinds of programs a Unix-like
operating system can contain.  (The first GNU Chess came out around
1989.)  Likewise, a desktop can contain all sorts of graphical
packages.  There is no precise boundary for what _can_ be included.

But there are essential things that _must_ be included.  A Unix-like
system has to have a C library, and its desktop has to contain a
toolkit library such as GTK+.  The desktop would be sort of pitiful
if it did not contain a file navigator, system control panels, etc.
Naturally, Gnome has them.

However, it wouldn't make sense for non-graphic, non-desktop programs
to be included in Gnome.  It would be more natural to classify them
elsewhere.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation (gnu.org, fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (internethalloffame.org)
Skype: No way! See stallman.org/skype.html.

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Re: The Goal of Gnome

[joshbaldwin42 .]

Allow me to use an example to show you how I arrived at these questions and
how I think this differs from GNU.  Going to
https://www.gnu.org/home.en.html tells me in the first line what GNU is
trying to accomplish: "GNU is an operating system that is free software
—that is, it respects users'
freedom. The development of GNU made it possible to use a computer without
software that would trample your freedom."  As a random person, I can
understand what they are trying to do: build the components required for an
operating system.

However, when we go to https://www.gnome.org/foundation/ we see: "The GNOME
Foundation is a non-profit organization that furthers the goals of the
GNOME Project, helping it to create a free software computing platform for
the general public that is designed to be elegant, efficient, and easy to
use."  So the GNOME Foundation furthers the GNOME Project.  But nothing I
can find on the website mentions what the GNOME Project is about.

I can find the GNOME Project on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_GNOME_Project which lists the project's
goals.  I will copy them here:

The project focuses on:

   - Independence – the governing board is democratically elected and
   technical decisions are made by the engineers doing the work.
   - Freedom – development infrastructure and communication channels are
   public, the code can be freely downloaded, modified and shared and all
   contributors have the same rights.
   - Connectedness – work spans the entire Free software stack.
   - People – emphasis on accessibility
    and
   internationalization
   .
GNOME
   is available in more than 40 languages (at least 80 percent of strings
   translated)[11]
   

   and is being translated to 190 languages.

But this still does not give a definitive, concrete view of the actual
programs under the GNOME umbrella.  Why does GNOME have gtk+ and desktop UI
programs but also a calculator and cookbook?  Is a goal of GNOME to support
all non-critical software of a computer (that is, pieces GNU is not
supporting)?  Can a math library be apart of GNOME?  Video games?  Is there
anything keeping LibreOffice or Octave from becoming a part of GNOME?

I don't mean for all those to be answered, but meant to be guide for
discussion and thought.

Thanks!
-Josh

On Thu, Feb 9, 2017 at 5:26 PM, Richard Stallman  wrote:

> [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider]]]
> [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]]
> [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]
>
> Since a similar question arises for the GNU system as a whole, our
> experience
> might be pertinent to discuss here.
>
> --
> Dr Richard Stallman
> President, Free Software Foundation (gnu.org, fsf.org)
> Internet Hall-of-Famer (internethalloffame.org)
> Skype: No way! See stallman.org/skype.html.
>
>
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Re: The Goal of Gnome

[Richard Stallman]

[[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider]]]
[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]

Since a similar question arises for the GNU system as a whole, our experience
might be pertinent to discuss here.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation (gnu.org, fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (internethalloffame.org)
Skype: No way! See stallman.org/skype.html.

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Re: The Goal of Gnome

[Nuritzi Sanchez]

Hi Josh,

I think this is a great thing for us all to consider and I'm including the
Engagement Team so they can see this, especially since they maintain the
website.

I think this is also a great thing for our new ED to help think through.

Best,
Nuritzi


On Sat, Jan 14, 2017 at 4:51 AM, joshbaldwin42 . 
wrote:

> Hello!
>
> I'm not sure the correct group to contact with this question, so feel free
> to send me elsewhere.
>
> I was reading all about the GNOME Foundation and tools.  But what struck
> me is the lack of an overall vision for the GNOME Foundation.
>
> What is your goal?  GNOME supports a wide range of applications and
> libraries.  What makes a piece of software GNOME?  Why would you want a
> specific piece of software under GNOME?  Do you have priority projects to
> fit your vision similar to the FSF high priority projects page?  Where
> would you like GNOME to be in 5-10 years and why?
>
> Of course I am interested in these answers, but ideally it would be nice
> to write up something nice and publish it on your website.  Such answers
> could conjurer up inspiration in soon to be GNOME contributors since they
> would know what direction they are marching.
>
> Thanks!
> -Josh
>
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>


-- 


.

*Nuritzi Sanchez*  |  +1.650.218.7388 |  Endless 
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